Swing states tighten

10/15/12 4:18 PM EDT

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are within 3 percentage points of each other in 8 of the 9 swing states that will decide the presidency, according to today’s RealClearPolitics battleground state poll averages.

In three of those states – Colorado, New Hampshire and Virginia, the race is within a single point. The biggest gap is in North Carolina, where Romney holds a 4.7 percent edge.

It’s a dramatically different battleground map than at this point in 2008, when just 2 of those states (Nevada and North Carolina) were within 3 points or less on October 15 -- and Obama had double-digit leads in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The tightness of the battleground states highlights the importance of each campaign's ground game. But it also serves notice that there's a decent chance that one or more states could end up as a photo-finish.

In 2008, there were just two states decided by less than one percentage point, Missouri and North Carolina. The final outcome in those states didn't really matter, though, in the context of Obama's electoral college blowout.

This year, the electoral college results aren't likely to be so clear cut -- raising the prospect of a very contentious end to an already bitter campaign.